I have always quite liked the idea of Oeufs Cocotte.  I have seen pictures of the dish in recipe books but never quite got around to trying it.  I like the idea of a creamy pot with some runny egg yolk to dip things into.

Two things happened that made me give this a try.  I had bought a French cooking magazine called Marmiton to challenge my French – it had good pictures and a whole section on pulses, things to tempt me into translating some French.  And I needed to try out some protein rich recipes for some work I was doing.  Perfect – eggs are a fantastic source of protein.  In the magazine there was a recipe Oeufs Cocotte au micro-ondes.  Very quick as you, if you haven’t worked it out, cook the eggs in the microwave.  Maybe I need to give Oeufs Cocotte au Micro-ondes a go.  And I really rather liked it.

As per usual, I didn’t have the exact ingredients to hand so this is an adaptation from the Marmiton recipe.  I liked the magazine so if you are based in France then definitely worth a look.    As usual, I didn’t have all the requisite ingredients so made use of the contents of my fridge.

Start by finely chop 2 mushrooms per egg (I have also tried a mixture of mushrooms and cherry tomatoes which was lovely but boiled over making a bit of a mess in the microwave) and some fresh parsley or chives.

In a microwaveable bowl (a ramekin is about the right size for one egg), make 2 layers of chopped mushrooms with goats cheese  (the recipe suggests a soft cheese garlic and herb cheese) – approx 35g for 2 eggs.  With a rinded goats cheese I decided to add a little crème fraiche.  Crack the egg on top, add black pepper and fresh herbs.  (I have also tried the soft garlic and herb cheese option and it is a hit too!  In fact I think I prefer it!)

Very carefully pierce the yolks, a tiny prick is sufficient.  Cook in the microwave at 450W or on medium-low setting for 3-5 minutes until the yolk is to your liking.  It does take a little trial and error to work out the best timing for your own microwave to get the perfect yolk with sufficiently cooked white but worth it.  Serve with toast and a bit of salad.  Baked potato wedges and some veg or a more substantial salad would give a bigger meal.  I have to say that 2 eggs might not make you feel extremely full but they certainly keep the hunger at bay for a good amount of time.  This is due to the protein rich nature of the dish.

I have found loads of various oeuf cocotte recipes so I think I will be meddling with this recipe.  It is so quick I can easily put this together instead of a sandwich – fantastic fresh hot lunch.  Many of the recipes are for cooking in a conventional oven so if you don’t have a microwave then cook in the oven in a bain-marie (an oven tray with boiling water that comes half way up the ramekins) at 170C for about 6 minutes depending on your oven and how you like your eggs.